


Waiting ‘Til I Know You Better

by Virago77 (PriPri)



Series: Prompts, Pleadings and Prezzies, Oh My! [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fic, Slow Burn, alpha!Derek, nerd!derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-10 16:25:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2031810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PriPri/pseuds/Virago77
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the lost summer between sophomore and junior years, Stiles fell in love with Derek.  And not superficial love, but the slow-burning, never-meant-for-it-to-happen kind of love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting ‘Til I Know You Better

**Author's Note:**

> curupia asked you:  
>  _If you're still looking for prompts you should write something where Stiles realizes he's attracted to Derek the first time he sees him doing research, pouring over books and papers, getting animated when he talks... Just SOMETHING where Derek isn't instantly objectified. I'm getting really sick of every fic I read starting with how hot he is. I want Stiles to not be that shallow for once._
> 
>  **Author’s Notes:** This one got away from me. I’m not sure that this is actually what was asked for—it’s certainly not what I had planned. I had brilliant ideas for this, but I was sidetracked by selfish people who won’t let me write gay fanfic in peace, and sadly most of my beautiful thoughts were forgotten. This might require a do-over and I wouldn’t blame the prompter for wanting a full refund.

* * *

Stiles could have had a very boring summer.  Scott had ditched him for summer school—at least this time it was for a valid reason.  Stiles understood that if he didn’t want Scott to repeat the tenth grade, he would have to go without him a while.  Lydia…well when her epic romance with Jackson came to an abrupt end after his parents shipped him off to London, she began compensating with a string of disposable boy-toys.  She was also back to ignoring his existence.  Allison was in France; not that Stiles had any desire to spend time with the girl who had spent the last few months trying to kill his friends.  That left interning at the sheriff’s station, which his father strictly forbade, or hanging with Isaac who was acting twitchier than normal.  Isaac was the obvious choice.

It turned out that Erica and Boyd hadn’t just run away, they were missing and a pack of alphas was likely responsible.   Derek had him at, “ _An alpha pack_ ,” and Stiles immediately insinuated himself into the pack and the investigation.   The broody alpha tried to fight it, but there was no denying the Stilinski charm.  His dad had always said that he was out of his mom’s league and it was his charm that she had fallen for.  Stiles had it in spades and Derek found himself unable to say no to Stiles for very long.  In fact it was surprisingly easy for Stiles to wear him down.

The conditions for Stiles being allowed to help with the search were that Stiles must stay out of immediate danger—he was only permitted to do simple recon and tons of research, and Scott had be kept out of the loop.  There were several reasons for that— _he couldn’t trust Scott_ —but the most prevalent was that the young beta hated being a werewolf and wished for normalcy.  Derek would give him what he wanted if for no other reason than Scott couldn’t blame Derek for his problems if they stayed out of one another’s lives. 

So it was a summer of trips to libraries and specialty shops all over Northern California.  It was ridiculously fun for Stiles because Derek had resources that Stiles would have expected from Willow or Giles!  It was a pleasant surprise and it reminded Stiles that he and Scott had jumped to many conclusions about Derek Hale, but they had never bothered to actually learn anything about him.  And with Derek being—somewhat—accommodating, Stiles used the long hours they spent driving out of town to shops that were rumored to have ancients tomes as a chance to study Derek.

In talking about his family, Derek had inadvertently confirmed what Stiles had deduced about his relationship with Kate Argent.  He also discovered that Derek was smarter than they had ever given him credit for.  Stiles regretted telling Scott that learning from Derek was a bad idea.  Common sense should have told him that Derek was the better teacher if only because he was born a werewolf and he had been controlling the shift his whole life.  And apparently they were taught more than just control as children; there was lore and history and rituals, and that was just dealing with werewolves.  Old families like the Hales also took the time to teach their children about other supernatural creatures.  Derek’s knowledge was not as broad with other beings as it would have been had his family lived, but he knew quite a bit off the top of his head and what he didn’t know, he knew how find out.

Four weeks in, Derek and Stiles had developed a rhythm.  Stiles learned how to distinguish fact from fiction.  Supernatural beings hid the truths of their races among the falsehoods.  It was a brilliant system, because only supernatural beings were taught how to differentiate between the truth and lies, while outsiders would be utterly clueless.  The fact that, after everything they had been through, Derek trusted him enough to teach him these things made Stiles’ chest swell with pride.  They had both begun making amends for the wrongs they had done one another in the past, and they now they were building trust.  Stiles had no idea how he was going to break it to Scott about officially joining Derek’s pack, but he’d deal with that when the time came.

“Can I just tell you how much your uncle creeps me out?” Stiles asked with a shudder.  Peter had left ten minutes prior and it was as if Stiles could still feel him looking over his shoulder.

Derek quirked an eyebrow at him, “As opposed to how creepy _everyone_ finds him?”

“Everyone hasn’t been kidnapped by your uncle, psychologically and physically abused, and been offered bites on the wrist in a way that made them want to go home and run boiling water over their skin.  Actually when that day finally ended, I _did_ go home and take a scalding hot shower—Derek are you okay?”  Stiles wasn’t sure what he had said, but the alpha’s eyes had gone red, his fangs were peeking out of his top lip and there was a very low growl emanating from him.  “Derek?” he asked softly, moving slowly toward the alpha and placing a hand on his shoulder.

It was as if his touch had brought Derek back from a trance because the moment they connected, Derek relaxed, his fangs disappeared and his eyes returned to their normal—no, Derek’s eyes were anything but normal, but they reverted to their natural color.  _Was it their natural color considering he was both a man and a supernatural creature?  Would green…ish, blue, gold, gray be considered their default setting?_

“…Stiles!”

“Huh?”

Derek chuckled, “You zoned out for a minute there.”

Stiles laughed too, because he was supposed to be finding out why Derek had gone all wolfy and trancey, not space out himself, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  So…did my uncle really do that to you?”

“Which part?” Stiles asked.

“Any of it.  All of it,” he said staring at him intently.

“Yes.  All of it.  The bite thing creeped me out the most though.  I mean he could have just bitten me like he did Scott; there was no way I could have stopped him.”

“That was peculiar even for Peter.”

“Really?  I mean because he _was_ indiscriminately killing people at that time in his life.”

“It wasn’t indiscriminant.”

“You’re defending him?”

“Of course not!  I’m a predator, but I’m not an animal; neither was Peter before the fire.  He’s been manipulative for as long as I can remember, but it was always calculating and occasionally deceptive.  He was never spiteful or malicious, and then he spent six years trapped inside his burned and broken body, with his only company being the memories of seeing his family burn.  So while I would never defend what he did, I have very good understanding as to _why_ he did it.  By the time Laura and I got there the fire was out, but I still wake up feeling like my skin is burning and with ash in my throat.  Can you imagine what his nightmares must be like?”

“No, you’re right, I get it.  If I had… I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Derek said with such surety that Stiles almost didn’t ask why.  Almost.

“How do you know that?”

“Because _I_ didn’t and you’re a better man than me.”

After being faced with such a compliment from Derek, Stiles was left speechless for pretty much the rest of the day.  It had made him blush and feel warm all over; he had a feeling that if he had been a wolf, he would have wanted to roll over and shown his belly to his alpha.  It was weeks later before Stiles pushed Derek to finish that conversation.

Stiles dropped the open book on the coffee able and leaned back against the couch.  With a sigh he stretched out his legs and crossed his socked feet on the one spot on the table that didn’t house books.  “I’m seeing double,” he whined.

“Take a break.  We could order in.”

“Oh yes please!” Stiles leaned his head against the back of the couch and squeezed his burning eyes shut.

“Thai?” Derek stated more than asked.

Stiles smiled, but didn’t move, “Oh you know just what I like,” he moaned.  It wasn’t until he heard Derek placing the call that he realized just how suggestive and true his statement had been.

It had been just about two months and Stiles felt like he knew Derek as well as he knew Scott.  Derek was secretly funny and had a mischievous grin that was contagious and made you want to ignore that fact that he was probably up to no good.  Though he had enhanced strength and agility, Derek loved exercising—he thought it was lazy and foolish to only rely on just his supernatural abilities.  He had even gotten Stiles to join his training sessions with Isaac.  And since beginning pack exercises, the teen had noticed an increase in stamina.  He was stronger and had begun filling into his lanky frame—Stiles had even lost some of his usual clumsiness thanks to Derek’s training regimen. 

Stiles also learned that being raised by werewolves did not hamper Derek’s knowledge of pop culture references— _“They weren’t actual wolves Stiles.  We had a TV and everything,”_ Derek had said with mock indignation.  He never seemed to get angry with Stiles’ ignorance of werewolf culture _or_ his incessant questions.  It always awed Stiles how willing Derek was to share now that they did that—share.  He loved watching him explain something new; Derek would get an excited smile, his eyes would light up, and he spoke with such animation.  Stiles almost fell out of his chair the first time he saw that Derek was a hand-talker.

Of all the things he had learned about Derek recently, his favorites were that he was a prankster, he was fiercely loyal, and he was a ridiculous nerd!  Sometimes Stiles would ask a simple question or make a random statement, and Derek would spout off some obscure fact without even stopping to think about what he was saying.  _“Oh my God, you were an honor student, weren’t you?!”_   Derek had only shrugged and muttered something about enjoying history.

But it wasn’t just history.  When Derek learned about a subject, he truly _learned_ the subject.  And he had an ability to retain knowledge that made Stiles a little jealous _and_ a little aroused.  _“You have a photographic memory don’t you?”_

_“It’s called an eidetic memory, and no, I just have a good memory.”_

_“Yeah, okay Sheldon,” Stiles laughed, “You are such a nerd.”_

_“Yeah, and?”_

_“Oh no, I like it—I love it when you talk nerdy to me,”_ he teased with an eyebrow wiggle, but it was true.  Stiles loved Derek for not just his looks, but his hidden soft side, and his surprising sense of humor.   What he loved most was Derek’s mind.

And it was in that moment, as Derek was ordering him chicken sukiyaki without actually asking Stiles what he wanted, that Stiles realized he was in love Derek.  And it wasn’t new.  It had started as infatuation with his looks, because Derek was absolutely breath-taking.  But once he got to know Derek as a big softy with a twisted sense of humor, the infatuation turned into friendship and respect.  And in the end, it was Derek’s brilliant mind that set Stiles’ heart to pounding.  It was the excitement in Derek’s eyes when they uncovered a new clue, or the way he would take a book from Stiles and send him his bed for a power-nap, while Derek continued to pour through book after book.  It was how patient he was teaching Isaac and Stiles about werewolf behaviors, customs and traditions.  The sudden realization that it was nerdy!derek and not hottie!derek who had secretly wormed his way into Stiles’ heart, made his breathing go shallow and his began heart race. 

 _How the fuck had he fallen in love with Derek?!_   And not superficial love, but the slow-burning, never-meant-for-it-to-happen kind of love.  This was real and serious and so much more than the schoolyard crush he’d had on Lydia.  It was the kind of love that would shatter hearts if it was abused or rejected.  The kind of love that would last multiple lifetimes if accepted.  The kind of love not everyone was lucky enough to experience.  And Stiles had that love for Derek.  _What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?!_ he wondered to himself.

“Stiles?  Are you okay?”

Because _of course_ Derek could hear his erratic heartbeat.

“Oh nothing, just realizing that being attracted to your ridiculous face and body wasn’t enough, and I had to fall hopelessly in love with your brains as well.”

“…”

Stiles froze, his pulse ratcheted up and before he was sure what had happened, Derek was practically on top of him.  He grabbed his shoulders, pulling him forward and shaking him gently.  Derek was talking, but it was like Stiles was under water; his vision had blurred and could hear only distorted sounds.  _Fuck, I’m having a panic attack!_

And then Derek’s mouth was on his.  Stiles’ brain shut down and all he knew was the softness of Derek’s lips pressed against his.  And then the wet slip slide of his tongue as it skimmed over his closed lips; closed until a startled gasp parted them and then it dipped inside Stiles’ mouth.  Stiles was unsure which one of them groaned when Derek’s tongue brushed against his, but he melted against the larger man’s frame and leaned into the kiss. 

When Stiles pushed his tongue against Derek’s, he felt his chest vibrate with a rumbling growl.  Derek’s hand came up to cup his chin; he tilted Stiles’ head slightly to better slot their lips together and deepened the kiss.  Stiles’ hands moved to Derek’s sides, fingers clutching at the thin cotton shirt.  He felt his whole body go warm with longing, and his head went dizzy.  And then Derek was pulling away, but Stiles chased after his mouth and reinitiated the kiss.

Their second kiss was unexpectedly soft and more exploratory.  Derek wasn’t Stiles’ first kiss, but only just.  He’d never been able to take his time and really enjoy kissing.  And Derek let him have control, let him tease, taste, and devour.  It was when Stiles scooted forward and wrapped his long legs around Derek’s waist that the older man finally pulled away, though he was loathed to do it.

Both eyed each other, unsure of what they would see.  They were panting, mouths open, lips wet and swollen.  Stiles’ tongue darted out and brushed along his bottom lip, chasing after a last taste of Derek.  Derek’s eyes fixed on the plump, pink flesh and it made Stiles to smirk unconsciously.  “So, uh, I said that out loud?”  Stiles’ voice was hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in days, but knew it was because of Derek, because of the way kissing him made Stiles feel.

Derek nodded, eyes still fixed on Stiles’ mouth, “Yes,” he rasped.

“And, um, you’re not mad?”

Derek’s eyes finally moved away from his lips to focus on Stiles’ wide honey-brown eyes, “Did you mean it?”

Stiles considered lying, but after that kiss… “Yes, every word,”

Derek grinned, “Good.  Me too.”

Derek moved in for another kiss and the duo wouldn’t let go of one another until the delivery man arrived.

As they sat eating, “Hey, you never did tell me the deal with Peter and his offer to bite me.”

Derek stiffened briefly.  He chewed silently and looked as though he was considering ignoring the question and then thought better of it.  There was no way Stiles would let it go considering he had flat out asked the question instead of the way he sometimes, roundabout asked a question without actually asking.

“It implied…intimacy,” he bit out the last word as though it pained him to do so.

Stiles choked and sat up straight, “I’m sorry, what now?”

“It’s just…just say… If, in the future, you decided that you want _us_ to be a permanent thing—”

“Wait; was there a question as to whether or not this is permanent for me?”

Derek frowned, “Stiles, you’re young and—”

“Shut up.  First, my age has nothing to do with my feelings for you, and second, we’re getting off subject.  Was Peter…did your creepy uncle proposition me?”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“How would _you_ put it?”

“Werewolf equivalent to a marriage proposal.”

“Oh my God!  Now my desire to shower every time he looks at me makes perfect sense,” he shuddered.

“I’ll have a talk with him about his behavior toward you,” Derek all but growled.

“Aw, Derek, did you just imply that one day you’re gonna werewolf propose to me?”

Derek shook his head at Stiles’ ability to jump back and forth between several conversations at once.  “Maybe.”

Stiles dropped his chopsticks, “Wait are you serious?”

“Not until you’ve at least graduated high school… and are eighteen; the last thing I need is your father arresting me proposing to his underage son.”

“Oh my God I’m going to have sex…with you!”

Derek rolled his eyes with a sigh, “What was I thinking falling in love with this goober,” he asked the empty loft as Stiles giggled…like a preteen girl.

 


End file.
